Windy Wellington hosted a wonderful workshop on CEFR on Thu 5th September 2013 – many thanks to English New Zealand (for organising), The Campbell Institute (for hosting), Cambridge English (for providing all the ‘loot’) and last but definitely not least Mary Jane Hogan (for presenting). I really love (and get excited about) workshops that ‘hit it on the nail’ when it comes to delivering the essence and the whole picture of the actual topic, the raison d’etre. Especially when it’s done so swiftly and smoothly. I got a real buzz from this workshop as it made so much sense. Although I need to do a lot of reading (a comprehensive list of resources were provided) I feel confident enough to apply my newly acquired knowledge to my current role of developing a new programme as part of the new NZCEL, from NZQA. This post is simply to gather my thoughts, in point form, so that I can re-visit them when I need to.

What have I discovered at the workshop? (emphasis on the ‘point form’)

CEFR is not a rating scale (as rating scales describe performance)

CEFR is a process not a product

the purpose of CEFR is to ‘reflect on current practice to meet the needs of the learners’

CEFR is designed to ask questions, not making rules

CEFR is flexible (I really like this aspect)

CEFR is action-oriented

language learners are ‘actors’ in society, they aim to accomplish tasks in a speech community

If you wish to read any further, grab yourself a cuppa (colloquial NZ English for a ‘cup of tea/coffee) and find a comfortable corner 🙂 The full presentation for the workshop will be made available from Mary Jane Hogan shortly but you may wish to get a glimpse of it from the following link (from another workshop)